Posts tagged “National Security Agency”

There’s an old joke at the National Security Agency that NSA stands for “No Such Agency.” Yes, super-secret clandestine agencies tend to fly under the radar. Or at least want to. You can imagine how challenging the recruitment environment is in this kind of atmosphere. But when you’re in direct competition with Google, CIA, and FBI for the world’s smartest people, it’s advisable to come out of hiding. Producing your first ever television commercial and airing it in highly targeted markets during the season premier of Lost is a good way to do that.

The general population pretty much ignores the world of digital threats. Let’s face it, most of us are happy with our cute cat videos, cheeseburgers, and reality TV. But not the uber-geeks at NSA. They deal with digital threats 24/7/365, delight in a universe of digital challenges, and regale in their ability to face those challenges. In 2010, I collaborated on this digital multi-media to illustrate the threat to our nation, NSA’s role in defending the country, and how cool it is for the uber-geek to work there.

Comment: Hiring is a naturally discriminatory process. You’re taking a large pool of candidates and narrowing it, eventually, to that one person who will best fill the necessary role. This ad, intended for placement in a diversity publication, takes the idea of discrimination and turns it on its head to illustrate that point.

Comments: Sometimes the nature of the program and a poster’s proposed location can provide a creative spark. In this case, NSA was proposing an Employee Referral Program (ERP) that didn’t include any incentives (money, time off, etc.). Couple that with the fact that it was intended for use in cafeterias, and this is what I came up with … who said there’s no such thing as a free lunch?

Comments: Employee referral programs work. That’s why businesses, organizations, and government agencies continue to use them. The challenge is getting employees to notice. So in the high pressure world of national security, what’s the best way to do that? Inject a little levity …

Comment: One of the great benefits to joining the National Security Agency (NSA) straight out of the military is the ability to transfer accrued benefits. But due to NSA’s highly selective hiring process, they’re not looking for just any soldier, sailor, Marine or airman. They’re looking for the most intelligent soldiers with an incredibly specific skill set. So with this ad we wanted to prequalify people while sending a compelling recruitment message. This ad was incredibly focused. Not only did it target the audience, it targeted the specialty. First, only those who knew Arabic could read the headline (Translation: “Trade Your Tags for a Badge”), and second, only those with military experience would intuitively understand the message (dog tags for the ID badge).